Despite Trump's Boasts, Puerto Rico's Death Toll Is Low Because Deaths Are Not Reported

Donald Trump and his administration keep on touting the fact that the death toll in Puerto Rico has been relatively low in comparison to a "real catastrophe like Katrina", as if Trump or his administration had anything to do with that "fact". The reality is that we still have no idea, and we may never know, how many people in Puerto Rico actually died in Hurricane Maria or its aftermath. When Trump made that inane comment yesterday, the death toll stood at sixteen but that was primarily because the government had not been able or, less likely, willing to update the that number since September 27th. Later yesterday afternoon, conveniently after Trump had left the island, a new update was finally released increasing the official number of dead to 34.

Part of the problem is that the whole process of certifying a death has seemingly collapsed in the wake of the hurricane. Localities outside of San Juan have no capacity to report deaths to the government. Many government workers and workers in general have lost their homes and are spending their time simply trying to get the food, water, medicine, and fuel they need to survive and simply do not have the time or resources to do their job. Families are still unaware of deaths of their relatives and, conceivably, some bodies have yet to be found.

According to one investigative reporter, "Everything in the government has collapsed" but "not being able to document it [the death toll] doesn’t mean it’s not happening...the dead are at the hospital morgues, which are at capacity and in remote places where the government has yet to go." According to her research, there have been at least 90 fatalities and she, as well as other experts, expect the number to reach into the hundreds when all is said and done, probably nearing or exceeding that of Katrina. There has already been at least one documented death from lack of medicine in the aftermath of the quake and there will surely be many more post-Maria deaths related to the lack of medicine, power, and water in addition to threat of disease.

Another reporter in the Lajas region of the island detailed that "About 100 people died in the three days after the storm in the Lajas region, twice the typical rate, accoding to a local funeral director. Eight elderly people have died in Lajas since the storm, at least one directly related to a shortage of medical supplies. 'We don’t know if they didn’t have enough medicine, or oxygen — all of them were without electricity after the hurricane,' said funeral director Francisco Velez". When the mayor of San Juan pleaded, "If anybody out there is listening to us, we are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency", she was not using hyperbole.

And the prospects for the future are not good. The government is still talking about 6 months to restore power to the entire island. But, according to one power company worker, there are only about 600 lineman on the island and it takes six lineman to fix a single power line poll and those six average only about 1.5 poles per day. The math alone says that it will take far longer than six months to restore power without a massive influx of men and machinery.

As the communication network slowly begins to be restored, as of yesterday it was about 40% restored, more information on the death toll should start coming in. But the lack of electricity and water is still a major concern and problem. Only 45% of the island has access to water and well over 90% is still without power. People are still lining up for hours to get cash from the few ATMs that are working. So far, it has been remarkable just how orderly and patient those suffering have been. But you really have to wonder how long that can last under the unbearable conditions they are enduring.